SAN JOSE — Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) CEO Meg Whitman told analysts Wednesday that the troubled company was making progress revitalizing its business and discounted speculation that more drastic cost cuts were coming.

During the first of a two-day meeting with Wall Street experts at the San Jose Convention Center, HP officials predicted that their decline in revenue last year — down $7 billion from its 2011 total of $127 billion — would “moderate” in fiscal 2014 “with pockets of growth.”

Moreover, Whitman, who took over as CEO in September 2011, painted a decidedly upbeat picture of where she believes the company is heading.

“While there is a lot more work to be done, we are making progress,” she said, acknowledging that the storied corporation had faltered badly in recent years. “HP is a strong company with a proud heritage,” she added, noting that “some incredible opportunities lie ahead for us.”

In response, Needham & Co. analyst Richard Kugele agreed that “HP has made progress on its multiyear turnaround.” But he questioned whether it was appropriate to invest in HP now, “given the growth challenges the company is facing in nearly every product category.”

Besides being hurt by the sluggish economy, HP has suffered because of its heavy reliance on sales of personal computers and printer products, which have faltered as consumers have turned to smartphones and tablets.

In a separate announcement Wednesday, market research firm Gartner reported that worldwide PC shipments totaled 80.3 million in the third quarter this year, an 8.6 percent decline from the same period a year ago. Noting that HP and Lenovo are fighting for supremacy in the PC business, Gartner added, “the upcoming holiday sales season will be a key battlefield for both companies.”

HP also has been criticized for offering too many different types of products, failing to maintain good relationships with its business customers and partners, and showing poor judgment in some of the multibillion corporate acquisitions it has made.

To cut costs, HP is the final stages of eliminating 29,000 jobs as part of a broad restructuring. Even so, some analysts have speculated that more restructuring might be needed and that parts of HP’s sprawling business ought to be sold or split off from the company.

Whitman dismissed both ideas, at least for the near term.

“We are not going to do another big restructuring,” she said. Moreover, she repeated her long-standing contention that to distinguish itself from its competitors, HP needs its varied products — which range from computer servers and routers to cybersecurity and data-crunching software.

“I believe we are best positioned” in the industry “because of the breadth of our offerings,” she said.

Among other improvements, Whitman noted that she has largely reshaped HP’s leadership ranks and cut its debt by nearly $8 billion over the past 12 months. As a result, she said, “we’ve got a lot more flexibility to return cash to shareholders” and to invest in new products.

Whitman acknowledged that HP still has problems. But she expressed confidence in the company’s future and added, “when we do things well, boy, there is no one better in the industry.”

Tech analyst Rob Enderle praised HP’s presentation, saying it was “in sharp contrast with last year where there didn’t seem to be a sense of a team.”

Tech analyst Patrick Moorhead said Whitman “did what she said she would do last year at this time, which was to fix and start rebuilding the services and software businesses.” But he fears the company may fail to capture “the consumers’ hearts and imagination.”

Overall, Wall Street seemed cheered by the session. HP’s shares rose $1.85, or nearly 9 percent, to close at $22.60.

Contact Steve Johnson at 408-920-5043. Follow him at Twitter.com/steveatmercnews.

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